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That led me to thinking about Baltimore’s role in the sports world in general. I’ve seen my old man cry on three different occasions thus far in life; two of them were when his parents died, and the other was when the Colts left Baltimore. That’s a sentiment that was probably shared by most Baltimoreans at the time, and much of that was due in part to the Unitas era (and to a lesser extent Bert Jones). That can be traced back to the 1958 NFL Title game, which is something that needs no description to Baltimore fans. As a result of that one game, Johnny Unitas revolutionized the game of football by revolutionizing it’s most important position. Nowadays it seems that teams go up and down the field all the time at a feverish pace, however until that game nobody had ever seen a quarterback moving the ball like that…almost literally with no time left on the clock. That cemented the Colts and the city of Baltimore into NFL history forever, and I would submit that Johnny Unitas and the Baltimore Colts in the ’58 title game is the single greatest moment in that history.

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The Orioles and the city of Baltimore were cemented into MLB history by Cal Ripken Jr, albeit in a different manner. First off, the great tradition of baseball in the city was already there as a result of the great Orioles teams of the 60’s, 70’s, and early 80’s. However what Cal achieved by breaking Lou Gerhig’s consecutive games played record in September of 1995 set a standard for simply doing your job and doing it well. It’s easy enough to say that all the guy did was show up every day. But how many of us do that quite literally EVERY DAY, and take the type of punishment that professional athletes have to endure? Furthermore, in order to play in an eventual 2,632 consecutive games, you have to be pretty good.

Having said that, the consecutive games played streak in and of itself did not revolutionize the game. However as people often say, timing is everything. In 1994 we saw the baseball season end in August due to a players strike. The end of the season, and eventually the World Series ended up being canceled, and the strike even ate up the first six weeks of the 1995 season. Baseball’s popularity was at an all-time low, and for those of us who remember that probably recall that there were even some people wondering if that would spell the end of professional baseball at some point. Then at the end of that season Cal Ripken Jr. came along and broke the consecutive games played streak, generating an interest in America’s pastime once again. As people commonly like to say, Cal Ripken “saved baseball.” People got behind the streak and they wanted to see history made, which brought them back to the sport when it deserately needed fans. So yes, all he did was show up on a daily basis. But that type of dedication saved the sport that we all love so much.

I suppose that my point in using Unitas and Ripken is that the city of Baltimore as a whole has contributed in so many ways to the history of sports in America. And I’m not talking squarely about your run-of-the-mill great players, or even championships. I’m not sure that there’s another city out that that can claim a football and baseball hero as having revolutionized their respective sports or positions. And the fact that the Ravens are now the defending world champions allows Baltimore football as a whole to bow once again before the sports world. The same can also be said of the current Orioles, who are the heirs to Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, Paul Blair, Eddie Murray, and of course the great Cal Ripken Jr. All of these arguments are very relative and very subjective. But again, there’s a big difference between just a regular superstar, and one who revolutionized a game or a position. Baltimore can claim two in two different sports, as football and baseball owe the likes of Johnny Unitas and Cal Ripken Jr. a debt of gratitude

For the record, I would put Secretariat up there as one of the greatest athletes of all time. In a special that was run on ESPN this past weekend commemorating the 40^th anniversary of his triple crown, a writer who covered the Belmont Stakes that year said that he was literally afraid that the jockey was going to kill the horse given how fast he was going. It became obvious that he was going to win the race (and thus the triple crown) on the back stretch; winning a race running away is one thing, but…winning by 31 lengths is another story. So let me say…Greatest. Race horse. Ever.

People will of course point to inflated ticket prices, television ratings, etc, and argue that football is without a doubt more ingrained into the psyche of any city.However keep in mind that part of the “charm” of the NFL is that it’s really a once a week thing. Baseball is a daily grind that never seems to end for those who follow it. I’m not saying that one is better than the other, I’m merely saying that cities wait all week leading up to this one game. Then on Sunday (or Monday night) it all comes to a head when the team takes the field. Baseball is different in that it’s every night.

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The fact is that you have plenty of people that live and die with both teams, and some who do in a sense favor one over the other. However this is a baseball column, isn’t is?! First off let me preface this by saying that all my life I heard about the great Johnny Unitas and the 1958 NFL title game as much as I did about the likes of Jim Palmer, Brooks Robinson, et al. The Orioles were the only game in town from 1984 until 1996 when the Ravens kicked off at Memorial Stadium. (And keep in mind that the Colts were waning in popularity for the last few years at Memorial Stadium…) The teams on the field weren’t always the best in baseball, but the fact was that the O’s were the only game in town (and this includes in Washington DC, where there was no baseball team at that time) so they thrived in terms of popularity.

The Ravens caught up when the O’s fell on tough times throughout the late 1990′s and until 2012. However I would submit that even through those Oriole struggles, baseball still had a special place in the hearts and minds of Baltimoreans. First off it tends to remind us more so of our past and of our childhoods than any other sport. However let’s simplify this just a bit; it’s a summer sport, right? Summer represents BBQ’s, the beach, ice cream, and overall good times in most people’s lives. Last August during an Orioles’ road trip I spent a few days downy-oshun. In the evenings I sat at dockside bars watching and reporting on the Orioles. I saw a lot of orange and black down at the Delmarva shore last summer, undoubtedly due to the season that the Orioles were having. While the Birds have always been well represented at the shore, most people seemed to have a bit more spring in their step.

The Orioles have always had media (radio and TV) coverage at the region’s beaches, so this is nothing new. However it illustrates how in this region of the country the local baseball team is so important to the collective psyche that people still in a sense go on vacation…and take the O’s with them. In fairness, the Ravens have radio coverage in the Ocean City, MD market as well. However I’m not sure that football goes along with summer vacation as well as baseball. Speaking for myself, I have fond memories of sitting on the beach on occasions as a kid and being able to hear the voice of the great Chuck Thompson calling an afternoon matinee. That along with the combined smell of the sea, suntan lotion, boardwalk fries, and the sound of the surf represents the beach and summer vacation to me and I think to a lot of folks in this region.

This is an Oriole column, so we are in fact a bit slanted in a sense. However there’s no real comparison between the NFL and MLB. Both are great sports with great traditions, and in fact they cater to mostly the same people. Anyone who has any tie to the city of Baltimore should be proud to be a part of the tradition of Cal Ripken Jr, Ray Lewis, Jim Palmer, Johnny Unitas, Brooks/Frank Robinson, Raymond Berry, the Baltimore Orioles, the Baltimore Colts/Ravens, et al. I’m sure that Ravens fans (along with fans of the Washington Redskins) sit at places such as Harpoon Hannas in Fenwick Island, DE to watch the games just as they do with the O’s in the summertime. So which sport is more important or more favored? Tough to say…you make the call!

In my MASN column this week I referenced Back to the Future. While baseball has little to do with science fiction, that movie does feature Doc Brown telling Marty McFly that November 5, 1955 could be the “junction point” of the entire universe. However I’m starting to wonder if it isn’t actually September 6th (of any year); at least in Baltimore. It was on that red-letter date 17 years ago that my boyhood hero, Cal Ripken Jr., broke Lou Gehrig’s consecutive games played streak.  For those who thought the events of that September 6th couldn’t be bested, think again…

I was always good with roads and maps as a kid, and I knew that my grandparents lived in Rising Sun (MD), which to me was the “junction point” of the universe. So when my Dad and my uncles started to teach me about the hometown Baltimore Orioles, it was the young Cal Ripken Jr. that became my

Courtesy of Joy R. Absalon-US PRESSWIRE

favorite player because he was from nearby Aberdeen. He didn’t become the “Iron Man” until years later, but I liked him because he was local. Seeing Cal now in any circumstance is a reminder of those times and thus a reminder of my Dad, who I thank God is still with us after a bout with cancer. So for me last night’s game was a “moment” before it even started with the Orioles unveiling the Cal Ripken Jr. statue on the anniversary of 2131. However it wasn’t until the game ended that September 6th became etched into Baltimore’s mind as the bond between past, present, and future.

You really can’t say enough about the gritty effort of Jason Hammel, who was making his first start since coming off the DL. Hammel’s line: 5.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 6 K. Orioles’ fans held their breath in the fourth when Hammel took a comebacker off his right elbow, but he appeared to be okay and stayed in the game.  The Orioles plated four runners in the last of the first, three of which came on Matt Wieters‘ line-drive homer to left field. That home run only foreshadowed what was to come. Needless to say, many fans got free souvenir baseballs last night!

Andino homered in the fourth, and Reynolds in the 6th. However sure enough, the empire struck back. New York put five runs on the board in the eighth inning, helped by Pedro Strop walking in two runs, and ultimately leaving to a chorus of boos. That was the only blemish on an otherwise magical night. However Darren O’Day did his job in getting the final out of the inning, and the Orioles played on.

Courtesy of Joy R. Absalon-US PRESSWIRE

One thing that struck so many people about Cal Ripken Jr. was how often he was able to rise to the occasion when the stakes were high. Most notably of course, 17 years prior to the day he homered on a night that already would have been remembered as one of the greatest in team history. Cal was a team leader, however that baton has now been passed to Adam Jones. In true Ripken fashion, Jones rose to the occasion. With the game and perhaps the fortunes of this Baltimore Orioles team seemingly in the balance, Jones sent a “no-doubter” deep into the night sky of the Old Line State. That ball seemed to travel the same trajectory as Ripken’s homer on this same date so many years ago. And on the coat tails of both of those home runs rode the fortunes of Birdland. They tie together the past, present, and perhaps even the future of the Orioles and the great city of Baltimore…with an orange bow that reads September 6th.

For good measure, Mark Reynolds added on another homer and Chris Davis chimed in with a solo shot, giving the Orioles a 10-6 win over New York. This was only the first of four games with New York at the yard, so this is far from over. The question remains of whether or not this was a lone bright moment for the O’s this weekend, or if it might signal the start of something greater. Needless to say, the events of September 6th will be a tough act to follow! NY will send Phil Hughes to the mound in tonight’s game, countered by the Orioles’ Wei-Yin Chen. (Worth mentioning: Chen will be working on an extra day of rest since the O’s pushed him back a day to re-insert Hammel into the linuep.)

Last night would have been a pretty poignant moment in itself given that the O’s drew even with NY in the AL East once again, however the fact that it was done under the backdrop of September 6th and the Cal Ripken Jr ceremony made it truly a night to remember. Speaking for myself, I’ve always felt that you’re tied more closely to the teams and sports figures of your youth than anything else. Those are your formative years, and it’s more about just you and whomever brought you into the sports arena (my father in my case) sitting in the stands watching the game. So seeing Cal Ripken Jr, my boyhood hero, last night at the yard brought me back to those times. And seeing Adam Jones rise to the occasion in a Ripken-esque manner should have brought Orioles fans forward.

In penning this column I try to provide fair coverage of the O’s without getting overly caught up in the emotion of any one moment or coming across as a “homer.” However if these Birds continue on and make the playoffs after the events of September 6, 1995, combined with those of the last 14 years, and then September 6, 2012…quite frankly it would be the greatest story ever told. And with that said it would be a “Baltimore story.” A story of a once great franchise that returned to it’s past glory and left a city in awe of it’s greatness, both then and now. And the junction point of that history will always be September 6th.